April 26, 2010 -- Nearly half of the U.S. population has at least one of
three diagnosed or undiagnosed chronic conditions -- high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, or diabetes -- all major risk factors for heart disease, the
leading cause of death among Americans, according to a new CDC study.

Data collected from the ongoing National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey shows that 45% of Americans had one of these three conditions either
diagnosed or undiagnosed; 13% of adults had two of these conditions, and 3% had
all three conditions. CDC researchers also found that 15% of adults also had
one or more of these conditions undiagnosed.

It is well known that high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes
all increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, a condition that affects more
than 81 million Americans and accounts for one out of every three deaths in the
U.S. What is less known is the co-existence of these three conditions based on
race/ethnicity, as well as the prevalence of diagnosed vs. undiagnosed high
blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes among these groups.

The study shows that about 8% of adults have undiagnosed high blood
pressure, 8% have undiagnosed high cholesterol, and 3% of have undiagnosed
diabetes. The proportion of adults with these undiagnosed conditions was
similar across racial/ethnic groups.

The study also shows that:

Non-Hispanic blacks had a much higher prevalence of high blood pressure
(42.5%) when compared with non-Hispanic whites (29.1%) and Mexican-Americans
(26.1%).

Non-Hispanic whites had a higher prevalence of high cholesterol (26.9%)
when compared with non-Hispanic blacks (21.5%) and Mexican-Americans
(21.8%).

Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic blacks had a significantly higher
prevalence of diabetes -- 15.3% and 14.6%, respectively, compared with 9.9%
among non-Hispanic whites.

The CDC researchers also found that non-Hispanic blacks were more likely
than non-Hispanic whites and Mexican-Americans to have at least one of the
three conditions either diagnosed or undiagnosed.

The findings could help public health policy authorities develop more
targeted prevention and treatment guidelines for diabetes, high blood pressure,
and high cholesterol.

The impact of these three conditions individually is substantial:

An estimated 18 million Americans have diagnosed diabetes and 5.7 million
Americans have undiagnosed diabetes.

More than 102 million U.S. adults have elevated cholesterol levels --
meaning a total blood cholesterol measurement of 200 mg/dL or higher -- and
35.7 million among this group have cholesterol levels 240 mg/dL or higher and
are considered high risk.

High blood pressure accounted for more than 56,000 deaths in the U.S. in
2006; about 74.5 million people age 20 and older have high blood pressure.

SOURCES: National Center for Health Statistics: "Hypertension, High Serum Total
Cholesterol, and Diabetes: Racial and Ethnic Prevalence Differences in U.S.
Adults, 1999-2006."